wet and compact snow (kiniraq), fresh, wet soggy snow (aquilluqaaq), the first snowfall of autumn (apigiannagaut), encrusted snow that gives way underfoot (katakarktariaq), and snow causing crunchy sounds when you walk (qiqergranaartoq), to name just a few.31 In contrast to the Inuit, Arabs have only one word for snow—talg—and it refers to either ice or snow. Similarly, there are at least 19 Chinese words for silk and 8 for rice. And because the Chinese care deeply for their families, there are many words of relations. The Chinese have five words they can use for uncle, depending on whose brother he is.32
The Sapir–Whorf Hypothesis
The world we experience helps shape the language we speak, and the language we speak helps sustain our perception of reality and our view of our world. According to the Sapir–Whorf hypothesis, people from different cultures perceive stimuli and communicate differently, at least in part, because of their language differences. The Sapir–Whorf hypothesis has two threads: linguistic determinism and linguistic relativity. Linguistic determinism suggests that language determines our range of cognitive processes, effectually limiting how we see things by impeding us from seeing them any other way. Linguistic determinism has largely been discounted. Linguistic relativity suggests that languages divide up and name the world differently; it posits that since language affects thought, people who speak different languages will perceive the world differently. This helps to explain why the Inuit have many words for snow while Arabs use a single word only.
Benjamin Whorf claimed that if a language had no word for a concept, then speakers of the language would be unable to understand the concept. On the other hand, not having a word for something doesn’t mean we can’t have the experience. Thus, language may not limit ways of thinking as much as Whorf claimed.
Whorf never put forth hard evidence to support his claims, so over time his views have lost favor. Newer research on the subject reveals that as we learn our mother tongue, we acquire certain habits of thought that help shape our experience. For example, suppose someone told you, “I spent yesterday afternoon with my friend.” If the person were speaking French or Spanish, he or she also would inform you about the friend’s gender, as those languages have separate words for a male friend and a female friend. In contrast, an English speaker’s words would not necessarily reveal that information.
Similarly, because Chinese speakers can use the same verb to refer to action in the past and present, they do not have to reveal the nature of the time they spent with their friend. English verbs require us to state that. Because we learn these options very early in life, they become habits of mind. Such habits influence our thoughts, feelings, and the way we look at things.33
Cultural Differences Can Lead to Confused Translations
Translating ideas from one language to another can lead to problems. Sometimes the situation produced by a bungled translation can be amusing (though occasionally costly in a business context). For example, an English-speaking representative of an American soft drink company could not understand why Mexican customers laughed when she offered them free samples of Fresca soda. In Mexican slang, the word fresa can mean “lesbian.” Similarly, Beck’s beer has been translated into Chinese as Bie Ke, which means “shellfish overcome.”34 Along the same lines, Dr. Pepper no longer runs its “I’m a Pepper” ads in the United Kingdom, because pepper is British slang for “prostitute.”
Other times, however, a poor translation can insult and confuse recipients. For example, one Spanish-language letter sent to welfare recipients about changes in New Jersey’s welfare program contained numerous grammatical errors, suggesting a lack of multicultural competency. One section’s translation of “parole violator” really meant “rapist under oath.”35
Culture Affects Communication Style
Because members of Asian cultures practice the principles of omoiyari (listeners need to understand the speaker without the speaker’s being specific or direct) and sassuru (listeners need to use subtle cues to infer a speaker’s meaning), they are apt to keep their feelings to themselves and use language more sparingly and carefully than do Westerners.36 Because Westerners value straight talk, prefer to speak explicitly, and use inductive and deductive reasoning to make points, they may interpret the roundabout expressions of Asians as evasive, manipulative, or misleading. Japanese girls and boys are likely to end their sentences differently. For example, whereas a boy might say, “Samui yo” to declare “It’s cold, I say!” a girl would say, “Samuiwa,” expressing the comment as a gentle question: “It’s cold, don’t you think?” Boys and girls also refer to themselves in different ways with boys often using the word boku, which means “I,” while girls say watashi, which is a politer pronoun that either sex can use. Parents will also tell girls, “Onnanoko nono ni,” which means, “You’re a girl, don’t forget.”
The way parents in Western and Asian cultures handle a request they do not want to grant from a child provides a prime example of the cultural differences in directness. When confronted with such a situation, most U.S. parents would simply say no. In Japan, however, the parent would give reasons for denying the child’s request but will not say no directly.37 Every culture reaches its members using its preferred style. Whereas in the United States we prefer to be upfront and tell it like it is, many Asian cultures stand by the value of indirectness because it helps people save face and avoid being criticized or contradicted in public.
Culture Influences Symbolism and Vagueness
In some cultures, symbolism and vagueness are embedded in language, and people intuitively understand that words do not necessarily mean what they say. According to social scientist Kian Tajbakhsh, 80% of language in the West is denotative, whereas in countries such as Iran, 80% is connotative. In the West, yes generally means yes; in Iran, yes can mean yes, but it often also means maybe or no. In Iran, people use a social principle called taarof (insincerity) to avoid conflict. According to this principle, people will tell you what they think you want to hear. They will praise you, but they won’t necessarily mean it.38
What kinds of problems can result when people from different cultures use words so differently?
Prejudiced Talk
Both the dominant culture (the culture in power, the mainstream culture composed of people who share the same values, beliefs, and ways of behaving and communicating and who pass them on from one generation to another) and co-cultures (groups of people such as African Americans, Hispanics, Asians, musicians, athletes, environmentalists, and drug users, who have a culture of their own outside the dominant culture) have different languages. Hence, usages vary between these cultures.
Linguistic Prejudice
Sometimes members of a dominant culture use derogatory terms or racist language to label members of a co-culture, disparage them as inferior or undesirable, and set them apart from the mainstream group. Linguistic prejudice, or the use of prejudiced language, reflects the dominant group’s desire to exert its power over less dominant groups. Such language stresses the differences between people of different groups, downplays any similarities, implies that the people who are different do not make an effort to adapt, and suggests that they are involved in negative acts and that they threaten the interest of the in-group members.39
Racial Code Words
